All-in-one HR, payroll and benefits platform, Employment Hero announced it has raised $140 million in a Series E funding round to bolster its engineering capabilities, enhance its market-leading platform and accelerate expansion efforts into the Southeast Asian market.
The latest funding round is led by US-based Insight Partners, a venture capital and private equity firm supporting technology scale-ups driving change in their industries.
Why is Employment Hero attracting funding?
The announcement comes as Employment Hero reveals 113% year-on-year recurring revenue growth, more than tripling its valuation from $250 million to $800 million within six months and putting it on the fast track to becoming one of Australia’s next tech unicorns.
Funds raised from the Series E round will drive a push to amplify the company’s presence in Southeast Asia and Western Europe, enhance its best-in-class talent management solutions and propel the development of innovative fintech capabilities.
These initiatives all serve to further the company’s mission to launch SMEs on the path to success with its end-to-end payroll, people management and productivity solutions.
Co-founded by Ben Thompson, CEO, and Dave Tong, CTO, Employment Hero’s platform currently serves over 6,000 businesses, collectively managing over 250,000 employees.
In the 2020-2021 year, Employment Hero increased its headcount by 65%, bringing the team to 325 FTEs and processed $14 billion in gross wages in the past 12 months.
The company’s accelerated expansion into Southeast Asia follows the first wave of its international rollout plan, which kicked off in October last year.
Employment Hero successfully launch localised versions of its signature people, payroll and benefits solution in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Singapore.
The foray into these markets included the development and sharing of local and timely resources and access to pre-built employment contracts and policies compliant with local laws.
In its seventh year of operation, the scale-up is continuing its expansion into Southeast Asia.
To support its rapid growth, Employment Hero has also announced a brand refresh and new website after completing research with thousands of potential customers, in line with its goal to make employment easier and more rewarding for everyone.
Employment Hero’s continuing push towards further international expansion is supported by the company’s Global Teams service, a Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) solution designed to power the remote work revolution in Australia and across the globe.
Integrating with Global Teams gives SMEs the ability to find, onboard and manage remote talent legally and seamlessly, while also offering an in-built recruitment tool that allows businesses to easily create and publish open positions to over 1,700 job boards worldwide.
Comments on Employment Hero’s ambitions
Ben Thompson, CEO and co-founder of Employment Hero, said: “We’ve experienced exponential growth in the past year both locally and overseas.”
“Our success in global markets has instilled in us the confidence to pursue further expansion, with SMEs and employees at the heart of our ambitions.”
“Managing a distributed workforce continues to challenge businesses and our solutions are designed to make remote working as seamless and sustainable as we possibly can.”
“Supporting SMEs through this transitional period and helping them elevate their mission, has fuelled Employment Hero’s passion for accelerating growth.”
“We’ve seen the positive impact that Employment Hero’s automated, simple and powerful solutions have had on businesses in vastly different markets and we’re committed to reaching more employers in the near future,” Mr Thompson continued.
“Employers globally are faced with challenges but striving to succeed in business and navigating the complexities of employment law, people management and cultural growth.”
“Many are struggling to stay afloat, keep up-to-date with the constant evolution of consumer expectations, behaviour, and the roadblocks in the ongoing global health crisis.”
“We help to reduce employment compliance burdens so they can focus on thriving.”
“This round of funding will enable us to bolster our brilliant team and accelerate our innovation timelines with the ultimate goal of simplifying employment for SMEs all around the world.”
“We’re excited to broaden our reach with entry into new markets,” he added.
Rachel Geller, MD of Insight Partners said, “We have been following Employment Hero’s journey for years and have seen the impressive and consistent growth experienced by the company.”
“Its customer-centric solutions have been embraced globally by the SMB community and we are looking forward to supporting them through this next phase of their expansion journey.”
